The world is becoming more and more interconnected. Globalization changes how people consume, work and live almost everywhere on the world. Today, many economic, political, cultural or ecological relationships are not explainable from a national perspective. At the same time, a controversial debate about the consequences of globalization has begun.

Questions to ponder: What are the driving forces behind globalization? What areas are most impacted by globalization? How does globalization benefit some, and adversely impact others? Why?

This video describes and really breaks down globalization. The video talks about how some countries benefit and some countries don't benefit from globalization. The video also separates globalization into three parts: economic, politics, and culture. It goes over the huge role that technology plays in globalization and covers it well.

This relates to our unit, because globalization is a huge factor in human geography as a whole. It is one of the main factors why our cultures are beginning to intertwine and have things in common.

Even though this article is now three years old, it is refreshing to see that Mexico is really making their mark on the global market. The Global North seems to be coming to a stalemate while "up and coming countries" like Mexico are becoming the perfect place for people to begin their businesses and have a fresh start on life. I can understand though, how it was mentioned on the third page of the article, that some locals may feel that foreigners, European especially, may be receiving some type of special treatment due to past colonialism. However, these entrepreneurs are shaping the economy of Mexico. This is Mexico's chance to advance in the world and increase its GDP. Young, aspiring moguls all seems to feel the same way about their homelands, "Europe, dying; Mexico, coming to life. The United States, closed and materialistic; Mexico, open and creative" and Diego Quemada-Diez, a Spanish director, was quoted in the article, "Europe feels spiritually dead and so does the United States...[y]ou end up wanting something else". And apparently, Mexico has that "something else".

Again, I would be interested in seeing how these statistics would change if they were to factor in illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States, but the data remains promising. Mexico has the potential to be an economic powerhouse, and hopefully will utilize this potential sooner rather than later. Although rampant corruption remains in the nation's politics and reinforcement agencies, a strong Mexican economy will ultimately deescalate the violence by stripping the cartels of their strongest allure- well-paying employment for uneducated young men. A stronger Mexican economy will also undoubtedly help the US in terms of trade, as well as reducing the rate of cartel-related violence in the southern regions of the nation. With so many Americans today rallying around Trump's racially-charged rants on Mexican immigration, it brings a smile to my face that we are currently sending more Americans to take Mexican jobs than they are sending our way. The hypocrisy of these politicians and their policies are laughable.

I’ve posted earlier about the end of cheap China; the rising cost of doing business in China coupled with the higher transportation costs to get goods to North American and European markets have made manufacturing in Mexican much more competitive on the global market. Many investors are turning to Mexico as an emerging land of opportunity and Mexico is now a destination for migrants. This is still a new pattern: only 1 percent of the country is foreign-born compared to the 13 percent that you would see in the United States. Mexican migration to the United States has stabilized; about as many Mexicans have moved to the U.S. (2005-2010) as those that have moved south of the border.

British artist Mishka Henner took photographs and enhanced the colors of feedlots to reveal the agribusiness of meat production. Photographs of feedlots are considered illegal and the legal repercussions of Mishka Henner are not clear at the moment, but the photographs are shocking and reveal again how little Americans know about their food production.

Americans have changed the places and utilized them to build agribusiness empires and have introduced new problems to the landscape of feedlot and farming towns.

This article makes me sickened. With previous knowledge of factory farms I know of the horrors that go on but this takes the cake. These pictures shown in the article depict the chemical and waste spill off which I am absolutely sure this is NOT good for the environment.

As stated by the Church of Geography: "In Europe during the Middle Ages, cities were often segregated (in part) by occupation. So if you needed baked goods, you'd go to the section of the city in which all the bakers lived. Shoes? Go to the neighborhood where the cobblers lived.

And the street names reflected these occupations: Bakers Lane, Cobbler Lane, and so on. Many of these names continue to exist, reflecting those cities' Medieval pasts. Prostitution also tended to be found in particular districts and on particular streets. Sure, Bordhawe Lane still exists in some places (Bordhawe apparently means "brothel"). Yet for some reason, the more imaginitive street names have all been replaced. "

This infographic shows how pervasive disease is in Africa. Though HIV gets a lot of attention, malaria and tuberculosis are just as prevalent as HIV/AIDS. The attention given to HIV/AIDS is reflected in the amount of aid sent to Africa, with a significant amount more being spent to halt the spread of HIV. These efforts are not entirely in vain as there have been decreases for all three diseases, but the funding necessary to make serious progress not on its way.

Though there is an even greater need to fight malaria, more international aid for HIV/AIDS is likely because most of the countries sending aid are not as familiar with malaria and HIV/AIDS has become sensationalized.

Disease is a global problem. Not having enough resources to keep diseases such as malaria out of Africa is unfortunate. People are dying every day and in efforts to save these people, it still can't be done. In the past, AIDS was the main disease that killed people in Africa. More recently, malaria is working its way through humans and killing them more than AIDS.

This is a project sponsored by OCEARCH (Ocean Reseach) that helps to track the journeys of individual sharks to better understand their migratory patterns. This data also helps to establish maps of the spatial extend of Shark habitat. This is in essence another fantastic practical application of GPS technology.

its just never safe to get back intot he water is it. guess Im just showing my age with that movie reference. Saw Jaws at the Route 44 Drive in the Rustic full the the metal speaker that hung on your window...so much fun

"Young entrepreneur Andy Didorosi believes that the way to Detroit’s new era depends on better leadership and a solid connection between the city and the suburbs. The city in 2012 axed its plans to build the M-1 light rail, the transit solution that would’ve bridged that vital connection, Didorosi bought a bus, had a local artist trick it out with a wicked mural, and he started the Detroit Bus Company. Dedicated to a more connected city, Andy Didorosi is bringing Detroit home one ride at a time."

When writing a research paper or an article that contains references to GIS data, maps, or other geospatial material, it's important to include a proper citation crediting the author of the GIS work.

Citations vary depending on if the map is a single piece of work, part of a map series, an atlas, or a map that is part of a book or a journal article. There are even specific citations if the map was created using GIS software or you are citing GIS data. There are varying citation guidelines for static web maps versus dynamic online mapping applications.

For each map, first consult the original work in order to extract the necessary information. Scan the map for the necessary information. If some of the needed citation information is not listed directly on the map, access any available background information. If the map is found within a book, article, or atlas, look for any figures or footnotes that provide additional detail. If the map is accessed from a web page, check for any background information on the source web site. Make sure you carefully note within your citation any missing information.......

A new ad campaign from charitable organization Water is Life features Haitian children and adults reading the everyday gripes and minor irritations first world citizens post on Twitter with the popular #FirstWorldProblems hashtag.

This article talks about culture and the aspect of globlization and how the first world countries are worried about something that is so far beyond what is really need that they forget what means the most. This is a video showing people that we take things for granted just becuase we have everything handed to us. That in the third world countries there is bigger worries that are way more important than not having a charger or things of that kind. It is relevent to me becuase i went to Haiti and saw the third world country with my own eyes and know that every word said on the video and every picture are real and that isn't just a studio createing things but real pictures of a world we would have never thought was there.

this video shows the process from which political candidates win their respective elections. gerrymandering is an illegal use of power in the respect to redistricting and moving town lines in order to pump up voting power. this is an illegal action that happens countless times in elections and taper to higher powers. this gerrymandering idea takes the voter power to elect and puts it into the hands of the actual political personnel. by reshaping you can stack votes into one particular area this way you are guaranteed to win that district. this is where you see districts with these crazy shaped areas rather than nice square or other simple shapes.

Our current predicament in terms of resource depletion, pollution and climate change is mainly due to the industrialized lifestyle of the minority of the world population. Obviously, that's not a result of overpopulation per se.

However, population growth stops when living standards rise. We can't stabilize at 10 billion unless all 10 billion enjoy a reasonable standard of living. Given that even our current resource use is unsustainable, overpopulation is a real issue.

This is a stride of different cultures, a little ancient and modern culture. When the Turkish immigrant came over to Germany because they needed workers (Germans stopped having so many kids) it help form the curry wurst. They also use American ketchup because Americans were over there for the war and they ate this too. The curry powder came way of United Kingdom. Basically the population learned from all these cultures and created one huge hit.

Initially I wasn't really sure what I thought about this resturant. My initial reaction was that I hated it and thought it was a bad idea. I to seemed like we were supporting another country by serving their food. However there is a cultural experience involved when we go out to eat. Many people go out to italian resturants to get the experience of italy and etc. However after really thinking about it the US is typically in conflict with another countries government, not the people who live there. By selling the food of countries we are in conflict with almost gives us an idea about what exactly the culture is there. I think it almost educates people in such a way. I think that might be the purpose on the resturant. By eating at this resturant it opens peoples eyes to what people of that particular country are consuming on a regular day basis. That experience can be good or bad, but either way it still opens up peoples eyes to the type of world other countries are living in. I think by eating there you open yourslef up to a new cultural experience, which I belive is exactly the point that the kitchen is trying to serve. Even if it is through food.

July 15, 2013 Peru last week initiated a new program that will provide electricity to more than two million of its poorest residents using solar panels.

Energy and Mining Minister Jorge Merino said that the program will allow 95% of Peru to have access to electricity by the end of 2016. Currently, approximately 66% of the population has access to electricity.

“This program is aimed at the poorest people, those who lack access to electric lighting and still use oil lamps, spending their own resources to pay for fuels that harm their health,” said Merino.

The first phase of the program, called “The National Photovoltaic Household Electrification Program” was initiated on Monday (July 8) in the Contumaza province, where 1,601 solar panels were installed. These installations will power 126 impoverished communities in the districts of Cupisnique, San Benito, Tantarica, Chilete, Yonan, San Luis, and Contai.

The program plans to install about 12,500 solar (photovoltaic) systems to provide for approximately 500,000 households at an overall cost of about $200 million.

Peru is the third-largest country in South America, with a population over 24 million. It has average solar radiation levels which can reach 5 kWh per m2 a day in the Sierra (foothill of The Andes). Peru is also home to the first major PV installation in Latin America.

This follows Peru’s public commitments to accelerate renewable energy development, as reported here previously by CleanTechnica.

And also:

Peru Unveils Plan to Use Solar Panels to Provide Electricity to 2 Million People, Latin American Herald Tribune

A very bold move. Peru definitely is in a good position to utilize Solar Energy well, the question is how much extra it will cost to install electricity into many households in Peru which have none. A big initiative like this will be what it takes for more countries to adopt Solar energy if it works out well. The global warming debate aside, it's still a really empowering notion to have your own energy generated by the sun which can be created in your own backyard.

We hear often of the 'high expectations' schools must have of and for their students, yet we seldom hear of the expectations students have of their schools. Students' expectations constitute the new 'rules of engagement' in the relationship that young people want with their schools."

"Can you recognize it by its Starbucks locations? Let’s find out. This quiz shows all of the Starbucks locations within the city boundaries of 20 domestic or foreign cities, and for each you must name the city depicted from four choices."

This is my favorite place-based guessing game since GeoGuessr (5 locations in GoogleMaps "StreetView" and you have to guess where). This isn't about knowing Starbucks locations, but understanding spatial urban economic patterns (just as this article showing the locations where McDonald's and Burger King will place stores also relies of understanding urban economic patterns). In this Starbucks game you have to recognized the shape of the city, major street patterns and the economic patterns just to name a few. This is one way to make the urban model more relevant.

Unfortuntaley I wasn't very good at this game. I believe I ended up getting 5 answers correct. However what was intersting about this article was to see how each starbucks was placed in certain areas. There were so much more starbucks locations in city areas. The starbucks' also typically were off of main highways or corners. This is for similiar reasons to what we dicussed about dunkin donuts in class. People are only going to travel so far for coffee. If it is not convienent then people will go else where. It is not like car dealership where people will drive out of their way to look. For a coffee people on average may drive 5 minutes. Anything too out of the way people will avoid. That is why there are so many starbucks and dunkins so close to eachother. They are set up equdistant from each other in locations that are convient for people around the area to try and get them to choose their coffee. It is typical to put a coffee shop on the main roads like we see in the maps, as well as in numerous locations to convience the whole area. The more convient the shop the more money they will make. That is why there are some many locations so close to each other. It is interesting to see it visually on a map just how many locations there actually are.

"Although 75% of the planet is a relatively unchanging ocean of blue, the remaining 25% of Earth's surface is a dynamic green. Data from the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite is able to detect these subtle differences in greenness. The resources on this page highlight our ever-changing planet, using highly detailed vegetation index data from the satellite, developed by scientists at NOAA. The darkest green areas are the lushest in vegetation, while the pale colors are sparse in vegetation cover either due to snow, drought, rock, or urban areas. Satellite data from April 2012 to April 2013 was used to generate these animations and images."

This is something to check out if you want to see first hand look at the green and not so green places on our planet. It really makes you see the parts of the world that get enough rain and the areas that don't that makes what we see from Satellite images from space.

This article highlights a fascinating cultural shift that impacts the migrants that come to the United States. The second generation might have more money but they tend to live shorter lives than their parents. As the next generation becomes integrated into American pop culture, unhealthy habits follow (smoking, drinking, high-calorie diets and sedentary lifestyles).

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.